Health General

Copyright ? 2005 drbodoh

What causes cold sores?  An excellent question with a not-so-simple answer.

You see - what causes cold sores for one person may not be what causes cold sores for another.  But, hopefully, by the time you're done reading this article you should know exactly what causes cold sores for you.

First, there is one thing ALL cold sore victims do have in common.  The one basic answer as to what causes cold sores in everyone is the infection of a herpes virus.

There are 8 known human herpes viruses, only two of which causes cold sores.  Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) or type 2 (HSV-2).  Type 1 causes about 80% of cold sores and is considered the main cold sore virus.  Type 2 is primarily responsible for genital herpes outbreaks but causes about 20% of the cold sores.

Most of the time, the cold sores virus is latent (asleep) far back in the nerve "ganglia" - the area near the back of the jaw where the facial nerves connect with each other and the secondary nervous system.

When emotional or physical stress causes the virus to wake up and become active, they travel to the surface through the nerves.  At the surface they enter the cells, force the cells to create copies of themselves, and then destroy the cells to release the newly created viruses.  This replication process "explodes" many thousands of cells in a close area that merge and causes your unsightly monster cold sores.

This is the root of what causes cold sores in everyone.

But not everyone infected with the cold sore virus gets cold sores.

According to the World Health Organization between 85% and 91% of the people on this planet are infected with this highly contagious virus.  Of those, 33% will never get a single cold sore in their lifetime.  The other 67% will get at least one, and most often 2 or more cold sores per year.

What causes cold sores to occur in some of us and not others - assuming we're all carrying the same virus? What actually activates these sleeping viruses?

Your level of health, how you handle stress, and the foods you eat all come into play here.  What causes cold sores for you?  Let's take a look.

1. YOUR HEALTH.  Simply put, the stronger your health, the stronger your immune system.   The stronger your body's defense system the less likely your herpes virus will wake up and produce another cold sore.  If you get cold sores frequently, then you really need to upgrade your health level.

Vibrant health is a huge topic about which many books have been written.  But you know the basics.  Quality nutrient-dense foods such as fresh organic vegetables, low impact exercise, no smoking, limited alcohol consumption, and sleep.  Also, today, it's very wise - no matter how good your diet - to take a GOOD vitamin supplement - one that contains a large quantity of B vitamins (considered the anti-stress vitamins) and anti-oxidants to supercharge your immune system.

2. YOUR STRESS.  This includes both physical and mental stress.  Keep in mind that mental stress always affects us physically too.  Stress is blamed as the No. 1 cause of cold sore outbreaks.  Because the herpes virus lives in the nervous system cells, it's very sensitive to stress changes.  You can't avoid all stress in your life, but keeping a high level of health will help you cope with the physical aspects of stress.

Some of the main stress events that studies show wake up the cold sore virus are illnesses such as colds (thus the term "cold sores") and fevers (thus the term "fever blisters").  Also physical injuries, dental work, pregnancy, allergies, environmental toxins, medications, or an upcoming event like a wedding or funeral causes cold sores.  Weddings are particularly bad for cold sores - if the ton of mail I get are any indication.

3. YOUR DIET.  Besides a good diet to improve your general health, take a look at these two amino acids (protein fractions) - lysine and arginine.

Studies have shown that lysine is very much anti-herpes.  Lysine not only helps keep the virus latent, but also, if already active, will encourage the virus to go back into hibernation.  Foods rich in lysine include eggs, most vegetables, legumes, avocado, chicken, fish, turkey, and ricotta cheese.  Additionally, many folks take a lysine supplement.  These normally come in a 500 mg. tablet or capsule.  During a cold sore event, taking 4-6 pills a day seems to help a lot of people.

Studies have been done on taking a long term "maintenance dosage" to keep the herpes virus latent.  After a year or so, the lysine effect wears off - and increased dosages are necessary to keep the herpes virus asleep.  My personal experience has been the same.  I now just save the lysine pills for times of stress or when I actually feel a cold sore coming on.

Arginine, on the other hand, seems to wake up the virus and encourage it to reproduce.  This isn't surprising.  Arginine is a little known but very powerful sexual enhancer.  Foods that are high in arginine are chocolate, nuts (almonds, cashews, peanuts, and walnuts), sunflower and sesame seeds, grains (oat and wheat), peas, most cheeses except ricotta, milk and pork.  Don't avoid these foods - just balance them better with the lysine foods.  Really - who can avoid chocolate for very long?

There is so much more I'd love to tell you about what causes cold sores, but it's not possible in the space available for this article.

Hopefully I have been able to give you enough information that you will better understand - at least for yourself - what causes cold sores.

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Denny Bodoh is a 33 year newspaper veteran and a health and nutrition research writer.  If you desire to know more about cold sores, and what you can do about them, visit Denny's wildly popular website:

http://www.be-cold-sore-free.com/

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Almost 40 percent of the human population will suffer from allergies at some point in their lives. Itchy eyes, stuffy nose, coughing and sneezing are among the most common allergy symptoms and they can make any individual feel tired and weak. Many people often wonder if they can avoid allergies by doing things differently in their day-to-day routines. The answer is yes. However, before you change your schedule to avoid allergies you may want to find out the cause of your allergy. It is a good idea to determine if it is worth the hassle. The following is a list of things which may trigger the allergies in your system to act up:

Pollen, Dust Mites and Mold

These substances are well-known for causing allergies. Different factors determine the levels of these substances on a regular basis. If pollen levels are high, you will be more likely to suffer from allergies. The best way to avoid these substances is to stay indoors and to dust and clean often. If you go outside, make sure you shower or bathe as soon as you return home. This will wash off any unwanted substances like pollen or dust which may be on your clothing or your body.

Genetics

Regardless of how much you are exposed to pollen or other allergy-triggering substances, you may suffer from allergies purely due to genetics. If two people are in the exact same conditions at the exact same time, one person may suffer more than the other because it is in their blood. You can thank your parents for that and there is nothing you can do to prevent this from happening.

Low Immune System

If your immune system is too weak to fight off the allergies, you will end up suffering for a good part of the year. Your immune system may be weak for a couple of reasons. First, if you do not get enough vitamins and minerals your immune system will lose its strength and will become ineffective in fighting allergies and other forms of viruses or infections. Also, your immune system may be low due to mental stress. Mental stress can make you physically weak and cause your body to shut-down. When this happens, your immune system shuts down as well. To strengthen your immune system make sure you get lots of vitamins, eat a healthy diet and avoid stress as much as possible.

Many studies have been done and there is no ?one thing? which has been proven to cause allergies. Allergies can be caused by one of the reasons listed above or possibly a combination of many different reasons. Nevertheless, it is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Exercising, sleeping and eating healthy will all play an important role in avoiding allergy symptoms.

Harold Miller used to suffer from allergies until he took it upon himself to get educated. While Harold still has the occasional bout, he has learned many ways to improve his allergies and as a result enjoys serving as a contributing editor at http://www.allergyrelief101.com ? a site dedicated to providing information on air purifiers, information about allergy relief, dealing with dust mites and more.

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It is very likely that you have experienced one or more of the symptoms of a liver that is not working at peak performance.

Such as:

Abdominal swelling (bloating),
Allergies,
Constipation,
Dark urine,
Digestive problems,
Dry skin,
High cholesterol,
Fatigue,
Headaches,
High blood pressure,
Joint pain
Light-colored stools,
Loss of appetite,
Loss of libido,
Itching,
Nausea,
Neck or back tightness

The liver is the second largest organ in the body, and is located in the lower part of the rib-cage. It has many functions such as aiding digestion, producing bile, regulating blood sugar, storing excess sugar, clearing the blood of bacteria, other organisms and ingested toxins. It also produces many proteins, stores many vitamins, and has the unique ability to repair and re-grow after it is damaged. Chinese medicine sees a healthy liver as the most critical organ in the bodies ability to fight disease and help it to function properly.

These and many other common symptoms are often experienced, and yet people and many doctors simply try to treat the individual symptoms without any thought of a liver that is not at peak function. Liver function does not significantly decrease with age unless the liver becomes diseased

Serious liver diseases such as Advanced Liver Cirrhosis, Hepatitis A, B and C etc, should be dealt with by the medical professionals.

This article is meant to call attention to the importance of the liver, and the fact that things like pollution, fast foods (avoid deep-fried and fatty foods), drugs, alcohol, and poor lifestyles all contribute to sluggish livers and produce symptoms that are so common to other causes, that the real problem is missed.

You can help to keep your liver healthy by limiting alcohol and tobacco use, check any medicines you take for warnings of side effects that interact with liver function, try to avoid chemicals like pesticides, and air and water pollutants.

In the distant past people used to take \"liver tonics\" to treat feelings of bloating, nausea, lack of energy and general discomfort with good results. The new natural herbal remedy approach to liver dysfunction provides a good chance of keeping this vital organ healthy and functioning well.

About the Author:

Joe Rote has spent 18 years in the health field, and is the webmaster of  http://www.aa1info.com  that will point you to high quality information, and natural herbal remedies that are produced under pharmaceutical conditions to ensure the highest degree of potency and consistency.

Copyright 2006 Joe Rote
This article may be freely distributed if the resource box stays attached and no part of the article changed without permission

About the Author: Joe Rote has spent 18 years in the health field, and is the webmaster of Natural Health Products that will point you to high quality information, and natural health products that are produced under pharmaceutical conditions to ensure the highest degree of potency and consistency. Copyright 2007 Joe Rote This article may be freely distributed if the resource box stays attached and no part of the article changed without permission  

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